This invention concerns in general a self-supporting form adapted for use in construction, and in particular a self-supporting, self-insulated form having internal cavities adapted for receipt of cementitious materials to be poured and cured in such cavities while supporting additional building materials on the outside of the forms. A plurality of such forms may be used together to form a wall, with at least one side of such wall being adapted for the attachment of additional materials (such as wallboard or panelling) thereto, with anchored attachment members therefor extending between such wall exterior and the interiorly received and cured cementitious material.
In general, advantages of using modular building blocks comprising foamed or plastic materials are known. Forms made of such material are typically structured for strength adequate to provide self-supporting forms for the pouring of cementitious materials, such as concrete or the like, therein. Once the concrete is cured, the forms may be left in place as insulation. Also, the insulation of such forms provide conditions for curing of concrete poured therein which are improved over those of other conventional forms, such as wooden forms which must be custom built on location and subsequently stripped from the cured concrete.
The following are examples of United States Patents disclosing various building blocks comprising plastic or foamed materials:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR(S) DATE OF ISSUE ______________________________________ 2,647,392 Wilson August, 1953 3,255,562 Altschuler June, 1966 3,292,331 Sams December, 1966 3,410,044 Moog November, 1968 3,449,878 Hern June, 1969 ______________________________________
While such blocks generally provide improved concrete-reinforced walls (for some of the reasons stated above), they are not particularly adapted for supporting additional materials, such as panelling, wallboard, or the like, thereon. For example, wallboard or paneling could be glued onto an exterior surface of the blocks, but such procedure can be time consuming, and fall out of the mainstream of building practices and materials used by ordinary artisans. Accordingly, specialized laborers, as well as additional time and materials would be required.
Alternatively, if one attempted to nail such wall cladding materials to such blocks, there would be great uncertainty as to the proper placement and size selection of the nails to ensure securement of the cladding materials. Additionally, many insulating materials are relatively resilient; hence, attempting to nail directly to a wall comprising such materials could literally cause damage to the wall itself.
Some known insulated forms for concrete have addressed the general problem of securing cladding materials to a wall formed by such forms. For example, two United States Patents by Gregori (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,788,020 and 3,552,076), both of which are incorporated here by reference, provide dovetail grooves formed horizontally in the exterior of building block sidewalls so as to form plaster keys to facilitate application of a plaster wall thereto. However, such securement means fails to particularly accommodate any other type of cladding materials other than plaster, such as panelling or wallboard which is conventionally nailed into place.
Even in certain circumstances, the Gregori plaster key grooves can fail to prove satisfactory for retaining plaster. For example, it may prove difficult during formation of plaster walls to ensure proper filling of the upper edge in the dovetail groove. Hence, over time the plaster wall under its own weight may tend to pull away from the poured concrete wall. Such pull away is most likely to occur, and be highly dangerous, during a fire. Heat from the fire can melt the foamed material of the concrete form long before any damage occurs to the interior concrete wall itself. Such melting causes an obvious loss of grip at such plaster keys. Thus, if a wall becomes heated due to a fire, or even from the heat of an adjacent fireplace, it is possible for finished walls secured with such plaster keys of the Gregori blocks to suddenly fall down and collapse on occupants of the room, or cause other damage.